The Giants are somehow still in first place with a 5-5 record, with three of the losses coming in the final 10 seconds. Along with the Browns, Saints and Steelers, they get the last byes of the season on Sunday. By the time they play again on Nov. 29 in Washington, they could be in second place.

The Eagles, who are 4-5, play Tampa Bay at home on Sunday and then at Detroit on Thanksgiving. So Philly could be 6-5 when the Giants next take the field.

Will that happen? The Bucs just beat the Cowboys, the Lions just won in Green Bay for the first time since 1991 and Mark Sanchez has taken over for an injured — now that's a surprise — Sam Bradford in Philly. Sanchez proved last year that he is perfectly capable of breaking hearts on both ends of the Jersey Turnpike after he reverted to being a turnover machine in the last month when the Eagles were in control of the NFC East.

Last week, after coming in for Bradford, who suffered a shoulder sprain and concussion against Miami, Sanchez threw an end zone interception on second-and-goal from the 9 with 4:26 remaining and the Eagles trailing 20-19.

Eric Decker is tackled by the Bills during the Jets’ Thursday night loss. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

Here's why the Giants will win the division: Eli Manning.

The problems for the other three teams: Sanchez, Kirk Cousins and it's too late for Tony Romo to save the Cowboys.

Romo broke his collarbone in the second game of the season. Dallas beat the Eagles to start 2-0. Since then they have been pathetic, losing all seven games without Romo. Brandon Weeden was 0-3 before passing the baton to Matt Cassel, who was 0-4. Incredibly, at 2-7, Dallas is still just two games back in the loss column with Romo returning on Sunday in Miami. But the dysfunctional Cowboys — with the volatile Dez Bryant and domestic abuser Greg Hardy on the same team — have zero margin for error.

Remember, Romo is not Tom Brady, so he's not going to walk back and run the table. He has a history of making fourth-quarter mistakes. Cousins was a great story last week: His father, who is battling cancer, came to his first game of the season on Sunday and Cousins was 20-of-25 for 324 yards, four TDs and zero INTs and a perfect 158.3 QB rating in a 47-14 victory over the Saints. The next day, New Orleans coach Sean Payton fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan.

Tony Romo is coming back, but it’s too late for Dallas. (Elsa)

Washington, at 4-5, plays at the undefeated Panthers on Sunday and then at home against the Giants. If the Giants can win that game, it will give them a season sweep of Washington and the tie-breaker. The Giants don't have it easy in their last six games with a home contest against Panthers and a game at Minnesota — the Vikings are red hot but it's going to be quite cold — but I think they will use nearly beating the Patriots on Sunday as the jumping-off point to a strong finish.

"The Giants win that game against any other opponent 99 out of 100 times," one NFL source said Tuesday. "They beat any other opponent except the Patriots with the way they played. When Brady had to play and make plays, he did it. That's the bottom line."

The Jets might have sabotaged their season with the ugly loss last Thursday at home against the Bills in Rex Bowl I when Todd Bowles showed his rookie inexperience with poor game management. The Jets play at Houston on Sunday. The Texans are tied for the lead in the AFC South with the Colts at 4-5 after they beat the undefeated Bengals on the road Monday night. This game is not as easy as it looked for the Jets when Houston was 1-4. After all the back-and-forth this summer between quarterbacks Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett, it was T.J. Yates who beat the Bengals in relief.

This is one of the many homecomings for Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. But he showed himself for what he really is against the Bills: a journeyman. Some of his throws were just pitiful. The Jets are so fragile, and they are so down on Geno Smith, that Fitz's messed-up left thumb has become the key to their season.

The Jets finish up at Dallas, at home against the Patriots, and at Buffalo. It's their misfortune that they don't get to face Weeden, who was cut Tuesday, or Cassel. The Patriots could still be undefeated and going for another prefect season and Buffalo might also need to win to get in.

The Giants are the home team for the game against the Jets on Dec. 6. Four years ago, Victor Cruz's 99-yard TD changed everything, not only for the Giants, who went on to win the Super Bowl, but also for the Jets, who missed the playoffs.